Final Analysis Shows 100% Compliance of Parties to Kyoto Protocol

A study published in the journal Climate Policy reports that all 36 countries that committed to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change complied with their emission targets. The results are the first published results to use the final data for national GHG emissions and exchanges in carbon units which only became available at the end of 2015. They show that overall, the countries who signed up to the Kyoto Protocol surpassed their commitment by 2.4 GtCO2e yr -1 (giga-tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year).

The researchers found that most of the countries reduced their GHG emissions to the levels required by the Kyoto Protocol, with only nine (Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain and Switzerland) emitting higher levels. The Kyoto process and climate-related policies, represented a low cost for the countries involved - up to 0.1% of GDP for the European Union and an even lower fraction of Japan's GDP. This is around one quarter to one tenth of what experts had estimated after the agreement was reached in 1997, for delivering the targets set 15 years ahead. The US never ratified the Treaty and Canada withdrew, but all the rest continued and Kyoto came into force in 2005.

For more information, read the news release at the Taylor and Francis Group Newsroom.